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Our top 10 races of 2013

Joaquim Rodriguez wins the queen stage atop Green Mountain after a ding-dong battle with Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans. Froome goes on to win the race overall – his first GC victory as a pro.

2. Strade Bianche

Cannondale play the team game to perfection as Peter Sagan marks Fabian Cancellara out of contention to allow teammate Moreno Moser to attack and win.

3. Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6

Three ascents of the Sant’Elpidio a Mare, which tops out at 27%, destroy the peloton. Nibali (along with Sagan and Rodriguez) escape from Froome over the final summit, setting the Italian up to defend his GC title.

4. Milan-San Remo

In freezing rain and snow which forced the race to bypass part of its middle section, Gerald Ciolek exploits his underdog status to beat Sagan and Fabian Cancellara in the final sprint for the line.

5. Paris-Roubaix

After an epic bluff, Fabian Cancellara attacks to make the lead group of four and, after Stijn Vandenbergh and Zdenek Stybar had been removed from contention after collisions with spectators, he outwitted Sep Vanmarcke in a track-stand in the Roubaix velodrome.

6. Liege-Bastogne-Liege

Ryder Hesjedal played the team role, teeing up Dan Martin to overhaul Joaquim Rodriguez’s attack on the final climb.

7. Tour de France stage 9

Multiple attacks and a combined effort from Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff successfully isolated Chris Froome from his Sky teammates, but the yellow jersey stayed cool and clung on to the lead group. Dan Martin escaped late on with Jakob Fuglsang and took the sprint to win the stage.

Heartbreak as Tony Martin rode solo at the front for almost the entire day and refused to concede defeat even with the charging peloton breathing down his neck, only to be caught a few pedal-strokes from the line.

9. Tour of Poland stage 4

Taylor Phinney denies the sprint teams with a late solo time-trial attack that succeeds by less than a second.

10. Vuelta a Espana stage 16

Young French neo-pro Warren Barguil claims his second stage win. He was caught by Rigoberto Uran with 1km to go but kept his cool to outfox the more experienced Colombian in the final sprint for the line.